Session Abstract

Inspired by the dramatic recent events in Egypt, this panel will discuss comparative cases of popular uprisings. Participants will examine such issues as the underlying conditions and the immediate events that have created these mass movements, the background of their leaders, the relation of these movements to other opposition groups in society, the response of the challenged regime as well as the police and the military, the role of communication and the media both locally and globally, and the actions of the protestors and their visions for change. The panel will also address the outcome of such protests, seeking to understand what kind of transformations they generate both in the short term and in the long run and the synergy between uprisings in different parts of the world.